School Demographics
This unit is timely, and relevant. Huguenot High School (HHS), a Title-1 urban public school is located in Richmond, Virginia; it is the largest of eleven in the district. 61% of Ss are Black. 30% are Hispanic. 7% white, and 1% of one or more races; 75% come from low-income families. All Ss receive free, and or reduced meals. While this information sufficiently “colors” our school, it doesn’t coherently describe my Ss. They are intelligent, creative, and most of the time, hilariously fun and funny. Ss have also experienced traumas and setbacks. 2022-2023, we returned to in-person learning, after Covid19 sent the world into a spiral, and schools teaching online; many Ss worked, and continue to work to support their families. October 22, a gun was found in one of the high school’s bathrooms then in April, two Ss were shot in the same school’s parking lot. June 2023, a mass murder occurred outside HHS’s graduation. It was National news.24 Some of my Ss live in public housing. “Public housing’s original purpose was to give shelter, not to those too poor to afford it, but to those who could afford decent housing, but couldn’t find it because none was available…Many projects were attractive low-rise (six-story) developments, with trees, grassy areas, and park benches.”25 Lack of tree equity is not an issue my Ss have brought up in conversations, but (while not listed in the Demographic information about my Ss, found online) it is relevant.26
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